The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Guzmania plant, hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name `Symfonie Encore`. The genus Guzmania is a member of the family Bromeliaceae.
Guzmania is predominantly epiphytic with a few terrestrial species and is native to the tropics. For the most part, species vary in diameter from 7 or 8 inches to 3 or 4 feet and have rosettes of glossy, smooth-edged leaves.
Floral bracts of Guzmania frequently have brilliant colors and may last for many months. The range of colors for Guzmania is generally from yellow through orange but may also include flame red and red-purple. White or yellow, tubular, three-petalled flowers may also appear on a stem or within the leaf rosette but are usually short-lived.
Guzmania may be advantageously grown as pot plants for greenhouse or home use. Desirably, the plants are shaded from direct sunlight, and during the spring to autumn period, the central vase-like part of the leaf rosette is desirably filled with water.
Guzmania is native to tropical America. Leaves of Guzmania are usually formed as basal rosettes, which are stiff and entire and in several vertical ranks. Guzmania plants have terminal spikes or panicles which are often bracted with petals united in a tube about as long as the calyx. The ovary is superior and the seeds plumose.
Asexual propagation of Guzmania is frequently done through the use of tissue culture practices. Propagation can also be from offshoots produced by the plant which may then be rooted. The resulting plantlets are detached from the mother plant and may be potted in a suitable growing mixture.
Methods for cultivation and crossing of Guzmania are well known. For a detailed discussion, reference is made to the following publications, which are incorporated herein by reference: Benzing, David H., THE BIOLOGY OF THE BROMELIADS, Mad River Press, Inc., Eureka (1980); Zimmer, Karl, BROMELIEN, Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin (1986); and Rauh, Werner, BROMELIEN, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (1981).
The new cultivar was discovered as a naturally occurring mutation among plants of the parent cultivar `Symfonie`, which is a non-variegated Guzmania plant. The female parent of `Symfonie` was Guzmania lingulata var. Splendens. The male parent of `Symfonie` was Guzmania zahnii. `Symfonie Encore` was discovered and selected among plants of the cultivar `Symfonie` by the inventor, Herbert H. Hill, Jr., in 1982, in Lithia, Fla.
`Symfonie Encore` is characterized by its medium to large plant size and its variegated leaves that are reddish-pink at the sheath becoming cream-white at the apex. The inflorescence is tall, large and brightly colored yellow and red.
The first act of asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was performed by the inventor in 1982, from offshoots produced by the plant. Horticultural examination of these asexually reproduced plants initiated in 1982 has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for `Symfonie Encore` are firmly fixed and reproduces true to type through successive generations asexual reproduction.